6 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this research is to determine whether hot water therapy (i.e. taking prolonged hot baths on multiple consecutive days) decreases hot flash symptoms and improves mood in women who are undergoing or who have underwent menopause. It is hypothesized that women who undergo hot water therapy will have reduced hot flash symptoms and improved mood. Initial tracking period: Women who volunteer to participate in this study will be asked to track the frequency and intensity of their hot flash and other menopause-related symptoms for an initial two week period. Afterwards, they will start their heat therapy program. Physiological assessments: On days 1, 7, and 13 of the heat therapy sessions, the participants will enter a climate controlled room to have their thermoregulatory responses assessed. This will consist of slowly walking on a motorized treadmill in 99.5°F (37.5°C) and 30% relative humidity conditions, for 30 min, after which the humidity in the climate chamber will be progressively increased until their core temperature begins to increase (\~2 hour total time). Before and/or during these trials, core temperature, heart rate, whole-body sweat losses, thermal comfort, local sweat rate, and skin blood flow will be measured, and a 6 ml (\~1 tsp) blood sample will be taken, to assess how the participants respond to the heat stress. These sessions should take less than 3 hours to complete. Hot water therapy sessions: Upon enrolling in the study, the participants will be assigned to one of two groups: water bathing at 105°F or 97°F in the lab. On days 2-6 and 8-12 of the therapy sessions, the participants will immerse themselves to a water level at the shoulders for \~30 min, followed by immersion to the hip level for \~60 min (total immersion time of 90 min). Post-intervention tracking period: after completing the heat therapy sessions, the participants will be asked to continue to take baths at home once every 4 days for 1 month. During this time, the participants will be asked to record the intensity and frequency of their hot flashes daily and other menopause-related symptoms weekly. At the end of this month the participants will be given a final exit survey, in order for them to provide the researchers information about their experience participating in the study.
The Yoga for Treatment of Hot Flashes and Menopausal Symptoms is an uncontrolled pilot clinical trial to determine the feasibility of recruitment and of evaluating yoga for the relief of menopausal hot flashes in 12 peri- or postmenopausal women. Participants will attend an Introductory Yoga Workshop, 8 yoga training sessions in 8 weeks, be assessed clinically before, during, and after training and contacted by telephone 3 months later.
Self-reported sleep complaints are common in peri- and postmenopausal women and have been identified as a key symptom of the menopausal transition. The MsFLASH study, A Pilot Trial of Telephone-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Midlife Women with Menopause-related Sleep Disturbance, is a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, two arm clinical trial. The target population will include women in general good health, aged 40-65 years, who report symptoms of insomnia (trouble sleeping) and who are bothered by hot flashes. We plan to enroll 100 women from Seattle, Washington and surrounding areas into the trial. Half of the women will be randomly assigned to receive the behavioral intervention and half to receive the behavioral control. The intervention arm participants will receive 6 sessions of a telephone-based, cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention for insomnia (CBT-I), based on state-of-the-art methods and specifically targeted to women with menopause-related sleep disturbance (CBT-I). The control arm participants will receive telephone-based Menopause Education Control (MEC) that includes elements of sleep hygiene. Assessments for both groups will be collected at baseline (pre-randomization), 8-week post-randomization, and 6-month post-randomization. The inclusion/exclusion criteria are designed to target broadly those midlife women who have menopause-related sleep disturbance and also report being bothered by vasomotor symptoms. This target population defines the clinical population seeking treatment for relief of menopause-related sleep problems. Exclusion criteria are kept minimal and intended only to exclude women with significant medical problems likely to account for their sleep problems (instead of menopause), or likely to interfere with their ability to participate in the intervention. We include women taking hormone therapy or other medication who meet these criteria because they are part of the population seeking clinical care for relief of sleep disturbances. Our primary objective is to develop an intervention that is generalizable to the greatest number of women and maximally translatable into real-world primary care practice.
Specific Aim 1: To compare effects of Vitamin D supplementation to usual care on symptoms in women transitioning to early postmenopause and determine the associated effect size in order to conduct a power analysis for a future RCT. Hypothesis: Vitamin D insufficient women in early postmenopause who are randomized to supplementation, titrated to achieve sufficiency for 2 months, will have fewer symptoms including hot flashes, mood, and musculoskeletal complaints than women randomized to usual care. Specific Aim 2: To compare effects of Vitamin D supplementation to usual care on body composition (by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry \[DXA\] and by weight, BMI, waist to hip ratio) in overweight/obese women transitioning to early postmenopause and determine the associated effect size for a power analysis for a future RCT. Hypothesis: Vitamin D insufficient women in the menopausal transition randomized to supplementation, titrated to achieve sufficiency for 9 months, will improve DXA body composition (less total body and abdominal fat), compared to women in usual care, who will have increased body weight, including total and abdominal fat. Specific Aim 3: To estimate the proportion of overweight/obese middle-aged women who achieve sufficiency by 1 month versus 2 or more months and to determine if achieving sufficiency by 1 month varies by baseline characteristics. Hypothesis: About 80% of participants will achieve sufficient Vitamin D level by 1 month. Those who need more than 1 month for sufficiency will have lower baseline levels and higher initial BMI.
A home-based, sham-controlled, double-blind, crossover study evaluating the effects of wearing sleepwear with lateralized thermal characteristics on subjective and objective sleep measures, proximal skin temperature, and sternal skin moisture in menopausal women complaining of sleep disturbance and vasomotor symptoms.
What if midlife women, who are inherently at an increased risk for future cardiometabolic disease due to transitioning into menopause, had access to a suite of evidence-based health interventions? Could these interventions reduce menopause-related inflammation, restore a healthier cardiometabolic profile, reverse epigenetic aging, and reduce bothersome menopausal symptoms? The ultimate goal of this work is to attenuate future disease and enhance women's quality of life, extend healthspan and increase productivity.